


On the Way To Eternity

by justanexercise



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Cute fluffy beginning, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Other, Poor girls, Slice of Life, Slow Build, Slow Burn, i changed my mind, then it gets angsty, this is angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-07
Updated: 2017-07-08
Packaged: 2018-10-15 22:57:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 10,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10559112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justanexercise/pseuds/justanexercise
Summary: Kara gets a crash course on Daemon etiquette the first time she meets Alexandra Danvers.“What are you doing?” Alex yells.Kara retracts her hand, pulling away from the fuzzy creature nuzzling against her leg.aka Daemon AU.





	1. The Meeting

 

Daemons. That’s new. Kara learns the very first day that Earth is vastly different than Krypton. Humans have pets, no apparently Daemons that are apart of humans. Krypton did not have such a thing.

Kara gets a crash course on Daemon etiquette the first time she meets Alexandra Danvers.

“What are you doing?” Alex yells.

Kara retracts her hand, pulling away from the fuzzy creature nuzzling against her leg.

“Valerian!” Alex hisses and the creature that Kara finds out is an otter scuttles towards Alex and clambers onto her shoulder.

“I…” Kara swallows thickly and stares down at her feet. “I am sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Kal-El says, putting a hand to her shoulder. He should’ve warned her about this. After all, he does not have a Daemon either.

Alex glares at her, bristling and stomping back into the house while Valerian the otter peeks over her shoulder, staring at Kara.

Kal-El leaves her to the Danvers. If life on Earth is anything like her first day, she’s going to need a lot of guidance and help, one that Kal-El has pawned off onto strangers.

“Here,” Jeremiah says, putting a small fluffy object onto the table. “It used to be Clark’s, I modified some of the mechanics.” He rubs the chin of the furry head and suddenly it turns on, running across the table on circles. “It’s a hamster, small, compact.”

Kara puts her hand out, rubbing the robotic hamster. “But it is not real.”

“No, it’s close enough that no one will notice,” Eliza says.

Kara averts her gaze from the hawk, Aurelio, perched on Eliza’s shoulder. Aurelio narrows his eyes at Kara’s fake hamster.

“Demetria,” Jeremiah says, signaling to his sea lion Daemon. She pops her head up over the table, eyeing the hamster and tilting her head.

“It’s, his name is Kartal,” Jeremiah points out. “We’ll calibrate him to your voice, make sure he hides under your clothes or in your bag. If other Daemons come into close proximity for too long, they’ll know something isn’t right.”

Kara nods. Earth is too strange. She plays with Kartal, teaching it phrases and how to keep it concealed in her clothes, letting it out of her sleeve so other people can see that she actually has a Daemon on occasion. She turns it off, placing it on the table.

Sitting heavily on the floor, Kara hugs her knees. A few moments into her thoughts, she feels a nudge on her thigh and sighs. Seems like Kartal can switch on probably. She turns, ready to grab him but it’s not Kartal.

Valerian.

Kara looks to her doorway but Alex isn’t there. She’s alone with Valerian, who’s sniffing at her and pushing against her hand. Kara keeps her fists clenched. She will not touch him.

“The hell?” Alex says, hands on her hips.

Kara gets ready to apologize but Alex is glaring at Valerian and not at her.

“Sorry,” Alex says, kneeling next to Kara and grabbing Valerian.

“It is okay.”

“She doesn’t do this, don’t know, maybe she’s curious about you,” Alex says with a shrug.

Kara’s eyebrows furrow. “She?”

Alex chews her lower lip. “Mom and dad give you a Daemon lesson?”

Kara nods hesitantly and points to her new fuzzy robot Kartal. Alex hums, her hand hovering over the powered off Kartal.

“May I?”

“Yes, you may.”

Alex picks up Kartal, finding the switch under his chin and giggling when he winds around her forearm into her sweater. She finally catches Kartal and deposits it into Kara’s hands. Valerian peeks over, nudging at Kartal until it’s on the floor and Valerian runs around, trying to catch it.

Kara steals glances at Alex’s smiling face as she watches Valerian play. Ducking her head before Alex can see her, Kara finds that Alex has a beautiful smile.

 


	2. Scars

 

This is her fault.

Alex is sleeping, eyebrows furrowed in pain. Valerian coos next to her head, soothing Alex in her sleep. Kara stays standing by the doorway, she doesn’t want to hear Alex yell at her to get out, and she’ll leave before Alex wakes up. She tortures herself further, using her X-ray vision to check on Alex’s forearm. Stitches, it’s going to scar. Permanent damage because Kara was careless. She should’ve known something would happen.

She wipes at her eyes futilely, she will not cry.

Kara feels familiar paws on her shin. Valerian. She’s poking at Kara with her nose and grabbing onto loose clothing, hoisting herself up until she reaches Kara’s shoulders.

“I’m sorry,” Kara says, sniffling.

Valerian nuzzles against Kara’s face, almost as if she’s saying it’s okay.

“Kara?” Alex mumbles, shifting in bed.

Valerian jumps down and scrambles next to Alex, tucking herself against Alex’s neck.

“Alex…” Kara breathes out. She swallows. “I should—“

“C’mere,” Alex groggily says.

Kara reluctantly shuffles closer and Alex brushes her hand against Kara’s, tangling their fingers together.

“You okay?” Alex asks.

“Am I…” Kara sucks in a breath. “Alex you’re the one who got hurt!”

“Dude I’m fine, it’s just a few stitches. I’ve had worse.”

Kara stares dumbstruck and shakes her head. “I should’ve—“

“What? Not saved them?”

“N-No…I…”

“You did something incredible Kara,” Alex says, squeezing Kara’s fingers. “Don’t feel bad about me getting hurt alright? It’s just a scratch.”

“You have stitches.”

“It’s a saying, remind me that we’re gonna have a Monty Python marathon.”

Kara nods stiffly. Staying with Alex until she falls asleep, Kara lightly squeezes Alex’s hand one more time before she starts to walk away. Valerian squeaks indignantly and scrambles over Alex’s chest. Kara hurries back over, just in case Alex wakes up again, luckily Alex is too tired. Valerian forcefully takes Kara’s hand and nuzzles into her palm before letting Kara go and circling back to Alex.

Kara’s heart beats triple time as she stumbles out of the room. Her hand tingles throughout the night, feeling phantom sensations of Alex’s hand and Valerian’s fur.


	3. Bad days

It’s a bad day.

Kara leaves indents in her knuckles, biting hard enough to break her normally impenetrable skin. Alex got her stitches out today and Eliza cooked up a few of Alex’s favorites for dinner. Kara pushed a bit too hard on her knife and cracked the plate. The Danvers are out of dishes now and they’ve resorted to using paper plates and plastic utensils until Kara can get control of her strength. It’s impossible to cut meat with a plastic knife. Alex threw it down in frustration and huffs.

Eliza did not appreciate the surliness.

Suffice to say, dinner did not go well.

She never had to mind her strength on Krypton. On Earth, Kara’s a freak.

Kara sniffs, holding herself in a ball on the bed. If she doesn’t touch anything, she won’t break anything.

“Hey.”

Kara snaps her head up. She didn’t even hear Alex come into her room. Alex gently shuts the door with Valerian waddling towards her on her hind legs.

“I’m sorry,” Kara says, apologizing for ruining dinner, for breaking the plates, for Eliza blaming Alex, for everything Alex has to go through now that Kara’s dropped in on her life.

“Scoot over,” Alex says, poking her shoulder.

Kara carefully shuffles on the bed, almost squeaking when Alex throws an arm over her shoulder and warps the blanket around them.

“Alex?”

“No more thinking.” Alex shoves her until they’re both laying on the bed. “Sleep.”

Kara lets herself get maneuvered until her head is pillowed on Alex’s chest, feeling the gently heartbeat against her ear.

“Alex?”

“Sleep.”

Valerian settles above their heads, her tail lightly thumping against the top of Kara’s head in a steady beat. It’s the fastest Kara’s ever fallen asleep on Earth, for once feeling safe and almost feeling like it’s home.

\---

Kara blinks awake with the acute feeling of someone staring at her. She sees Valerian’s face in front of her and just reacts, reaching up and petting Valerian.

Alex stirs underneath her and Kara immediately freezes. This is wrong. She’s learned now that touching someone else’s Daemon is taboo. Unless they’re lovers, she’s seen Eliza and Jeremiah handle each other’s Daemon’s without their partner freaking out.

But Alex is not Kara’s. They are not bonded here.

This isn’t like Valerian pushing against her for pets; no this is Kara reaching out first.

Alex’s nose crinkles, her arms coming up to wrap around Kara’s shoulders. “That tickles,” Alex simply says before falling back asleep.

That shouldn’t have happened. Kara wonders what it means but Valerian nudges her hand and Kara reflexively opens it, letting Valerian head butt her hand until Kara starts petting her again.

Maybe Valerian is just different.

Kara finds out that is certainly not true when Brett in a bold intimidation tactic grabs Valerian when she defends Kara in the hallway. Valerian reacts badly, scratching up his face before his dog Daemon can come to his rescue. By then Alex somehow flies across the school and picks up where Valerian leaves off.

Brett’s sure to have a few permanent scars on his face.

Alex is suspended for three days.

Brett is expelled.

No one touches a Daemon without consent on purpose without consequences.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love your comments guys!
> 
> Also fair warning, read the tags. This starts off cute & fluffy but I'm gonna be angsting it up by the end. 
> 
> I think I have forever associated Alex with otters.
> 
> also, don't expect this many fast updates, it's only cause these were short and I already wrote them ahead of time.


	4. Empty

Kara truly understands the saying ‘on the edge of your seat’ when she watches Alex surf above the water, barely making it through the wave. With her enhanced vision, she can see the gleeful smile as Alex paddles back over with Valerian proudly clinging onto her shoulders.

She notices that most of the surfers have water animal Daemon’s, though some of them have birds that soar above them while they surf.

At the announcement for the finals, Alex jumps in the air. She’s qualified for the finals and everyone runs towards the surfers, busy congratulating them.

Kara hangs back a bit, seeing the over enthusiastic slaps to Alex’s back from her friends. And Vicki. Vicki gives a very long hug to Alex despite getting her shirt wet.

Corcoran, Vicki’s hummingbird Daemon flits around, settling on Valerian’s head and smoothing his beak on her. Valerian’s oddly subdued, shy and curious.

She’ll never have that, never be able to give that to anyone. After all, she doesn’t have a real Daemon, it’s just a piece of machinery meant to mimic. To fit in.

Valerian scuttles towards her, seemingly able to sense Kara’s destructive mood. Corcoran flies above her, looking discontent at his perch moving. Pawing at the sand around Kara’s feet, Valerian tilts her head, as if asking what’s wrong. Kara clenches her fists. She cannot touch Valerian, not while out in public. That is a strict no. It would raise too many questions. No one just touches someone else’s Daemon. Kara kneels down, letting Kartal out from her sleeve and commanding it to play with Valerian.

Kara should’ve been more careful. She knows that now.

Corcoran gets close, too close. He hovers over Kartal, curious eyes boring into Kartal. Valerian tries to get Corcoran to play too but he suddenly puffs up and zips towards Vicki.

It never ceases to amaze Kara the level of communication Daemon’s have with their humans. Alex once tried to explain to her, the way she and Valerian interact, it feels more like telepathy and sometimes she can even _hear_ Valerian talk to her. Kara never hears Valerian though, not with an actual voice.

Vicki’s eyes widen and she stares at Kara, something akin to fear forming in her eyes. Kara gets a sinking feeling in her stomach. What had Corcoran said?

Kara tucks Kartal back into her sleeve and attempts a smile at Vicki. Vicki blanches but manages to fake a smile back.

All thoughts of Vicki and Corcoran get immediately pushed back when Alex runs towards her and scoops her up in a hug, loudly proclaiming she deserves ice cream for qualifying for the finals.

Kara of course, cannot escape the allure of ice cream.

\---

She doesn’t mean to eavesdrop.

Alex has been gone for a while and her ice cream was melting and Kara totally had to eat it or else it would just be a puddle on the table. So she tries to find Alex, maybe get her to buy another scoop of ice cream for them both. She rounds the corner and stutters to a stop.

Vicki and Alex are in a secluded area behind the building. Vicki’s stepping closer to Alex and Alex does not look happy at all.

Kara’s hands ball into fists. She should’ve made her presence known then, maybe yelled out but she’s learning to assess the situation first.

Vicki puts her hands out placatingly towards Alex. “I just think you should be careful.”

“No, that’s not what you’re saying.”

“There’s something off about her.”

“She lost her family V, of course she’s going to be messed up.”

They’re talking about her. Kara hides herself behind the wall just in case they look around.

“Yea I get that, and I’m not saying…just…she feels off. Corcoran can feel it.”

“You just don’t know her, okay? I do. Just trust me V.”

“Alex. She’s dangerous.”

Kara can hear Alex’s teeth creak from how hard she’s gritting them. Alex rarely gets this angry, not even when Eliza hurls accusations and scathing remarks.

“My _sister_ is not dangerous.”

“Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed! Her Daemon is _empty_ _inside_. We all know what happens to people who—“

“Kara is not _empty_ _inside_!” Alex just barely restrains herself. “She has the biggest heart out of every single person here. You know what? Fuck you.”

“Alex!”

Kara hurries away, her eyes stinging. She discreetly wipes the unshed tears and settles back on the table.

Empty inside.

“Hey!” Alex pokes her shoulder. There’s absolutely no trace of the argument on Alex’s face. She’s smiling happily and pulling Kara into a side hug. “You ate my ice cream.”

“Not my fault, they were melting!” Kara says, pushing her head under Alex’s chin so she wouldn’t be able to see her red-rimmed eyes.

If Alex is pretending, so will Kara.

\---

Vicki’s words never truly leave Kara.

Empty inside.

Kara researches Daemon’s more than just learning how to pretend to fit in. She finds the information Vicki accused her of being.

Empty inside. Soulless.

Daemon’s are an extension of the soul, the equivalent of wearing your soul on your sleeve. She finds that some of the worst criminals, the most notorious, serial killers, have been accused of being empty inside when they were young.

Kara holds a hand to her chest. She won’t become like them.

She won’t.

Alex believes in her.

She won’t disappoint Alex.

(She learns. She adapts. No one would suspect someone so bubbly and the human embodiment of sunshine and rainbows to be empty.

She chooses to be good. She chooses to be better.

Sometimes her feelings slip, but Alex is there to catch her when she falls.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> http://rumandmonkey.com/widgets/toys/namegen/4781#.WOshvmnyuUl
> 
> Get your own Daemon name :D. Lol. It's where I got most of theirs.


	5. Better with you

 

Kara grits her teeth, shutting her eyes tightly. The pencil in her hand has long since disintegrated, leaving a fine layer of dust on her desk. It’s supposed to be quiet reading time in English. Except everyone is so _loud_!

The soft whispers in the back of the classroom feels like they’re yelling directly into her ears. The tiny snores of her slumbering teacher grate on her every nerve. The only solace she has is that no one is actually paying attention to her, too busy sleeping, doing actual work or just gossiping.

She needs an anchor.

Kara slowly exhales, not seeing the slight frost forming under her breath. She can’t concentrate on Alex’s heartbeat, not with all the unfiltered noises crashing into her. She slaps her hands over her ears, dampening the cacophony.

It’s not enough.

She can barely feel the tap on her foot but Kara opens her eyes, her powers going haywire and her X-ray visioning activating. Seeing through her desk, Kara’s breath hitches. She must be seeing something else, there’s no way Valerian is under her desk yanking on her jeans.

It’s not an illusion.

Valerian clambers onto her lap, nudging Kara’s arm until she puts a hand to the fuzzy head.

The only thing she hears now is Valerian’s tiny heart beating.

Kara’s whole body releases tension.

“Valerian,” Kara mumbles, touching Valerian’s body as softly as she can.

Valerian scrambles under Kara’s sweater, bumping into Kartal and turning it off. She certainly did not teach Valerian that trick, it seems that Valerian found out all on her own.

With Valerian’s presence, Kara’s senses no longer flare. She adjusts her glasses and keeps a hand tucked under Valerian, keeping her steady as she naps.

\---

“Kara?” Alex’s voice drifts through the sea of students in the hallway.

Valerian pokes her head out of Kara’s sweater, excitedly pointing Alex out through the crowd.

“Alex…” Kara says in reverence.

Samantha, a short Japanese girl who’s also an outcast since she’s transferred in the middle of the semester and Kara’s only friend, tilts her head at Valerian. “I thought Kartal was a hamster.”

Kara freezes, turning her stunned gaze to Alex who’s just a few feet away now. “I uh…”

“Hey Sam,” Alex says with a nod. “Mind if I talk to Kara for a bit?” Alex asks, already leading Kara away from the dense pockets of people.

Sam shrugs, making her way to her locker. “I’ll see you in Bio,” Sam says to Kara.

Alex drags Kara to the secluded area at the back of the school, far away from the cafeteria lines.

“Are you okay?” Alex asks, thumb brushing against Kara’s bicep.

“Y-Yea.”

“Kara.”

“I’m sorry, I had…I don’t know. Everything was so _loud_ and I…” She swallows nervously. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, it’s not your fault.” Alex winds her hand along Kara’s neck and pulls her into her shoulder. “It’s okay.”

“But Valerian…”

Valerian squeaks, scampering out between them and sits on both their shoulders. Kara shuts her eyes, slowly taking in Alex’s scent, her heartbeat, the warmth of her skin. It’s enough to soothe the rest of her nerves.

“Does it hurt?” Kara asks, pulling away.

Alex scratches the back of her neck sheepishly and shrugs. “Actually…no. I…I don’t know. But don’t worry, it didn’t hurt.”

The crinkle between Kara’s eyebrows intensifies. “But…the proximity of you and Valerian. You were on the other side of the school.”

Shrugging, Alex wraps an arm around Kara’s shoulder and pulls them to the grass, sitting down. “Don’t know, all I know is that I felt better with Valerian with you. She helped didn’t she?”

Valerian squeaks indignantly, pushing at Alex’s cheek, offended.

“See!” Alex chuckles, pulling out her lunch bag. “Valerian agrees.”

Kara giggles, happily accepting Alex’s sandwich and chips.

“Oh, but…Sam saw,” Kara says through a mouthful of food.

“Saw what?”

“Valerian…she thought it was Kartal.”

Alex grimaces. “Ah…hey you like otters don’t you? We can totally make Kartal into an otter, that way no one will notice if Valerian comes to you.”

\---

“Absolutely not!” Eliza says, sending Alex her fierce glare.

“Why not?” Alex sits up defiantly.

“Sweetie, you know that you can’t just skip class whenever you want,” Jeremiah diplomatically says.

“I didn’t _skip_ class. Valerian went to her.”

Jeremiah and Eliza share a look and he directs his question to Alex, “What do you mean?”

“Valerian went to her, not me.”

“But…” Eliza blinks, confused. “How…how far were you?”

“My classroom isn’t that far from hers,” Alex lies.

Kara furrows her eyebrows, prepared to correct her but Valerian plods on her lap and shakes her head. Kara wisely remains silent.

“Alex, you know you can’t…” Jeremiah rubs his head, frustrated. “How bad was the pull?”

“Not that bad, it was just a few minutes.”

Kara clenches her fists and Valerian puts her paws on top of them. It had been the whole period, not just a few minutes. Alex is lying for her and she’s not sure why.

“She’s still young enough to explain a change,” Jeremiah says to Eliza.

Eliza releases a breath and nods sharply. “Okay, we can change the hamster into an otter.”

Alex smiles but it immediately dims when Eliza sends her a disapproving glare.

“Don’t Alexandra. This is only because someone mistook Valerian as Kartal.”

“Okay fine.” Alex rolls her eyes.

“Alex,” Jeremiah chides. “Don’t let Valerian go to Kara unless it’s absolutely necessary and you’re close by. Alright?”

“Yes dad. Can we go now?”

Eliza opens her mouth to discipline Alex more but Jeremiah puts a calming hand on her back and shakes his head.

“Yes, go do your homework,” Jeremiah says, pointing his chin to the stairs.

Kara leaves Kartal on the table and follows Alex up back to their room. Alex shuts the door and flops on the bed.

Nervously playing with the hem of her shirt, Kara sits on the bed. “Alex…why did you lie?”

Groaning, Alex turns over and nudges Kara’s back with her knee. “It wasn’t…okay maybe I lied, but I didn’t want mom and dad to freak out if they knew how far we actually were.”

“Not that…” Kara chews her lip. “You said…the pull…you said it didn’t hurt you.”

“Oh.” Alex scampers up to her knees and tilts Kara’s chin up with her fingers. “Hey, it didn’t hurt me.”

“But…it should.”

Alex shrugs. “It didn’t. I don’t know why, but…I don’t know it hurt more knowing you were in trouble. When Valerian’s with you…nothing hurts.”

Kara’s breath quickens along with her heartbeat. She stares into Alex’s eyes until Alex looks away uncomfortably and flops back on the bed. Valerian falls next to Kara, putting her head on Kara’s lap. Her hand automatically goes to Valerian’s head, stroking behind her ear and watching Valerian twitch. Kara looks over at Alex who’s relaxing more into the bed when Kara touches her Daemon.

There’s something deeper going on, Kara can feel it.

She doesn’t question it, as long as Alex stays by her side.

More questions bring unwanted answers.

 


	6. Tactile sensitivity

Kara’s practically floating, she disguises it by skipping and swinging her hands around her. Alex crosses her arms over her chest and acts all huffy, but Kara knows better. With how Valerian is perking up and rubbing her paws, it’s a definite giveaway Alex is more excited than she lets on.

“Come on!” Kara tugs on Alex’s arm, making her walk faster.

“Geez, slow down.”

Alex rolls her eyes but keeps pace with Kara and Valerian jumps across their shoulders to wind herself around the top of Kara’s head.

“Sorry,” Kara says, smiling brightly. “I’m just so excited!”

“Really? Hadn’t noticed.”

They get to their destination, the sound of barking greeting them. Kara squeals, ready to jump right in but Alex holds her by the back of her shirt and Kara windmills her arms like a cartoon character.

“Alex!’ Kara whines.

“We gotta sign in and stuff, be patient.”

Kara schools her features, her body buzzing. Alex greets the volunteer coordinator, a pudgy black college student named Spencer. Valerian jumps to the floor, nodding to Spencer’s Daemon on the floor. Kara’s fingers itch. No she cannot touch, even though the Daemon is a terrier dog with the most gorgeous fur.

“Hey, you from the high school?” Spencer asks, his eyebrows raised in amusement at Kara’s barely concealed excitement. “First time?”

“Yes!” Kara shouts and immediately covers her mouth. She coughs. “Yes.”

“Cool, well we’ve got some dogs that’ll love to take a walk with you…” he says with a knowing smile. “I just need your student ID’s.”

Alex hands them over, hugging Kara close to her so she wouldn’t just suddenly rush off and jump into a pile of puppies. Spencer puts their information in the computer and leads them to the back where the dogs are kept. He points out the dogs that haven’t been able to go out and play for a while and Kara paws at all of their kennels, keeping her squeals to a minimum.

“So we just choose a dog to walk right?” Alex asks.

“Yup, simple as that. There’s a dog park down the block, people usually walk them there, play a little bit then come back.”

“How long do we have?”

“Usually an hour, two if they’re the athletic dogs.”

Kara wants to walk each and every one of the dogs but Alex specifically tells her that they can only walk one. She doesn’t want to have to explain to anyone why Kara can dog-walk over ten dogs without breaking a sweat.

“Who hasn’t been walked in a while?” Kara asks.

Spencer checks his clipboard and hums. “Well…technically Sprinkles.” He points to the huge Doberman at the end of the wall. “But only like…football players can take her out—“

“We’ll do it!” Kara excitedly jumps in the air.

“Uhhm…” he glances at Alex nervously, not sure how to let her down gently.

“Kara…”

“What? Look at her—“

“Him,” Spencer corrects.

“—him sorry, he’s so lonely! Please?”

Alex withers, ready to fold like a cheap lawn chair.

“I don’t wanna…I’m gonna be blunt, I really don’t want to be liable for him pulling your arms out of your sockets,” Spencer says.

“Has that happened before?” Alex asks, curious and horrified.

“Not firsthand, but I’ve heard stories girl.”

Kara, undeterred, walks right up to Sprinkles and greets him. Sprinkles slowly gets up, licking her face and follows her out.

“She can handle it,” Alex tells Spencer.

Spencer runs a hand through his hair, watching Kara interact with the dog.

“I’m much stronger than I look,” Kara says with a nod. “I eat all my veggies!”

Alex scoffs into her hand.

“O…kay.”

\---

Kara holds the leash tightly but Sprinkles doesn’t seem to want to dart towards anything. He’s calm and collected.

“Look Sprinkles!” Kara points to the park. “Let’s go make some friends!”

Alex jogs to keep pace with them, watching with a fond smile on her face as Kara runs and chases Sprinkles.

“Here,” Alex says, throwing a large stick at Kara. “Go play fetch.”

As Kara keeps playing and talking to Sprinkles, he gradually gets his energy back, running back and forth and tugging on the stick while Kara laughs and gives him a full belly rub. It hits the one hour mark and Sprinkles is getting tired while Kara’s still bumbling with energy.

Alex holds out treats Spencer gave her, luring them back to her. She hands chips to Kara and tosses snacks in the air for Sprinkles. He lays his head on Kara’s lap, taking a much needed nap.

“Thank you,” Kara mumbles, stroking Sprinkles. She turns to Alex with a small smile and pulls Alex in for a side hug.

“Well I did want to see a puppy play with puppies.”

“I am choosing to ignore that because today has been awesome.”

Kara leans against Alex’s chest while Alex leans against the tree, watching other dog owners play with their dogs. Kara likes to people watch. At first it was to mimic human behavior, but overtime, she just enjoys watching people interact. See their stories, what makes them...them.

Furrowing her eyebrows, she watches a pack of dogs chase a squirrel that suddenly morphs into a tiny pit bull. Kara blinks. It’s a Daemon, not an animal. The Daemon belongs to a little boy who’s running into the pile of dogs.

“Alex?” Kara nudges her gently.

“Hmmm? What’s up?”

“Was Valerian always an otter?”

“No.” Alex wraps her arms around Kara’s waist while. “She changed a lot when I was a kid, like…several times a day changed.”

Kara nods, still puzzled by the Daemon system on Earth. Her free hand reaches out to pet Valerian and she leans into Alex more.

\---

“Good time?” Spencer asks, signing them out and making sure Sprinkles is well adjusted.

“Yes, very.” Kara nods.

“Will we be seeing you more often?”

“Maybe,” Alex says, pulling on Kara’s hand. “I don’t want her getting any ideas about getting a dog.”

Spencer chuckles. “We hear that a lot, well Sprinkles would be happy to go with you again.”

Kara hums as she walks back home, still feeling the residual natural high playing with a dog brings. She’s a few paces ahead of Alex when she spots another dog and pats its head.

“What the fuck?!”

Kara startles, tripping and landing on her butt. A middle aged white woman barrels through the bushes, screaming at Kara so badly she has to cover her ears and curls into a ball.

“Hey!” Alex steps in front of them and shoves the woman back. “You need to step back right now!”

Valerian bares her teeth and the woman’s Daemon dog does the same.

“She touched Gaor!” the woman violently waves to her Daemon.

Alex swallows nervously but stands up straighter. “She didn’t mean to. She didn’t know he was a Daemon.”

“How could you not know?” The woman shrieks, trying to step around Alex to get to Kara.

“Hey!” Alex holds her arms out, physically shielding Kara from the woman. “She didn’t mean to alright?”

Valerian digs her paws into the ground, ready to pounce and defend Kara if necessary. The woman watches Alex, who’s years younger than her and much fitter.

The woman furiously glares at Kara’s who’s no longer curled into a ball but has her hands firmly clasped over her ears.

“Teach her some manners!” the woman spits out before stomping off.

Alex’s hands ball into fists, watching until the woman disappears from the corner and she immediately crouches and pulls Kara into a tight hug.

“It’s okay. It’s okay.” Alex rocks them back and forth on the ground.

“I didn’t…I didn’t…” Kara sniffles.

“I know. It’s okay.” Alex shushes her and rubs her back.

She doesn’t have the natural instinct to distinguish animals from Daemons. Kara keeps her hands on her knees, not reaching out for Valerian even though she’s nudging at Kara’s legs.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear I'm not doing angst on purpose. It just falls out.


	7. Daemon or not

“Are you free to hang out this weekend?” Kara asks, nervously holding onto the strap of her backpack.

“Can’t,” Sam says with a shrug of her shoulder. “I got ACT prep school.”

“What’s that?”

“The ACT or the school?

“Both?”

“Didn’t Alex take it?”

Kara bites her lip and shrugs. “I don’t know.”

“Well it’s for college, you have to take them and send them the scores. You don’t really take them until Junior or Senior year but dad wants me to go to school for them. It’s like a private school thing.”

Kara’s eyes widen, panic overriding her. Sam’s her only friend besides Alex. “You’re switching schools?”

“What? No.” Sam hurries to explain. “It’s just during the weekend. Really sucks, I have like no free time anymore.”

“Oh…okay.”

“Yea, sorry.”

Kara forces a smile, walking with Sam to their next class. She’ll have to find another excuse then. Kara chews her lip. Or maybe she’ll lie.

\---

Leaning against the trunk of the giant tree, Kara shuts her eyes, letting the sunshine warm her face. There’s a large forest area an hour bike ride (two hours if she goes at human speed) away. She always floats near the top of the tall trees with her bike, putting it on another giant branch while she just sits and listens to nature. The sounds birds make still intrigue her, there were no birds on Krypton.

Here, it’s quiet, no man-made sounds. Nothing for her to worry about.

She doesn’t have to pretend here.

Kara stays there until the last rays of sun drop down the horizon.

It’s time to go back to the Danvers.

Eliza and Jeremiah immediately offer her some leftovers from dinner but Kara refuses, saying she already ate with Sam. They don’t ask her anymore probing questions and Kara breathes out in relief, hurrying to her room. She takes one step inside and freezes.

“Alex?” Kara mumbles, not turning on the light. She can see perfectly inside her room, the window is open, casting a blueish light around them. Kara’s breath hitches. Alex is sleeping on her bed, her face looking so relaxed. So beautiful. She looks extra pale bathed in the moonlight, Kara’s reminded of the marble statues she’d seen on the school museum visit. She’d been enamored by them, the hard stone etched in such intricate ways.

Back on Krypton she’d hoped one day she’d be able to transmutate to that level.

But science on Earth is too different.

Kara shakes her head. The reminder of home is not welcome now. She turns to go to leave Alex alone but Valerian seems to have awoken. Kara presses a finger to her lips and shushes Valerian but the Daemon runs around her legs, not letting Kara leave.

“Kara?” Alex asks, yawning.

“H-hey,” Kara shakily says, stepping away from Valerian to go further into the room. “Go back to sleep.”

Alex stretches, groaning at the pops and crack along her back. She raises her eyebrows at Kara who’s still standing uncomfortably in her own room.

“Come here,” Alex says, patting the bed.

“I should shower first, you know, all day hanging out is so tiring,” Kara says, faking a yawn.

“Kara. Sit.”

Kara pouts at the soft commanding tone, when Alex’s face doesn’t budge at the slightest, Kara slinks over and sits as far away as she can without rousing suspicion. She is unsuccessful.

Alex points her chin at the open door and Valerian budges it shut before scampering up the bed and laying her head on Kara’s thigh. Kara resist the urge to touch her.

“You’ve been acting weird,” Alex says, getting straight to the point. “I mean…I get it. I think…but…” she lowers her gaze, biting her lip nervously. “If I can…if you need me. I’m here. Always.”

Kara swallows thickly, fists clenched so she doesn’t reach over and touch Alex to reassure her. “I’m fine.”

Alex stares at her. “You’re really not.”

“Alex.”

“I talked to Sam.”

“What?”

“I didn’t…I mean I bumped into her at the beach. She was walking her dog, said she had extra schooling for half the day today.”

Kara stares at her knees, caught in the lie. “I…”

“You don’t have to tell me anything Kara…just…I-we didn’t know where you were.”

“Does Eliza and Jeremiah know?”

Alex shakes her head. “No.”

“I wanted some time alone.”

“Okay…okay.”

Kara glances at Alex’s crestfallen face, her own heart thudding at causing Alex such pain.

“Okay, well…good night Kara,” Alex says numbly. She waves at Valerian to follow her out Kara’s room but Valerian lingers for a few seconds longer, nudging at Kara’s stomach. Without any response Valerian jumps down, casting sad eyes at her.

When Alex is at the door, Kara finds the courage to speak. “I hate this.”

“What?”

Kara rests her feet on the edge of the bed, her chin on top of her knees. “Earth…I…I don’t have a Daemon Alex…I don’t know what that makes me.”

“Hey.” Alex kneels down next to her and rubs at her tense thighs. “It doesn’t mean anything okay? Superman doesn’t have one either.”

“Empty…” Kara mumbles.

“Hey no no.” Alex groans. “You’re not…you have the biggest heart Kara.” Valerian nods rapidly in agreement. “Maybe Kryptonians just don’t have a physical manifestation.”

Kara shakes her head.

“Come on, I’m not empty right?”

“What?” Kara’s head jolts up. “Of course not!”

“Yea, and look.” She points at Valerian scuttling up around to Kara’s neck. “Valerian wouldn’t be so attached to you if you were.”

“But—“

“You are not soulless Kara Zor-El. You are perfect,” Alex says with such conviction that Kara can’t look away. She blushes but holds her stare.

Alex scampers up onto bed, pulling Kara in for a tight hug. She kisses the side of Kara’s head and gently rubs her arms. “You may not have a Daemon Kara, but I know you. You have the brightest soul inside.”

Kara’s chest warms at that. She soaks in the affection, closing her eyes and committing this moment to memory, with Alex holding her so lovingly and Valerian sitting on her shoulder.

“Thank you.”

“I love you Kara,” Alex says softly for the first time.

Kara’s eyes tingle, she keeps her eyes closed. “I love you too.”

They stay like that until Alex’s arms grow numb and she has to pull away. Kara stays close to her though.  She picks at the blanket, still feeling unsure about herself on this world.

“There’s something else,” Alex says.

“How do you know that?”

Alex grins, poking Kara between the eyes. “Forehead crinkle. You only have that when you’re annoyed or worried.”

Kara rubs at the offending spot and glares at Alex. “I do not!”

“You do, now come on, what’s wrong?”

Kara flops on the bed, her hand instantly going to Valerian’s head when she lays on Kara’s stomach.

“I still…I don’t want to accidentally touch someone’s Daemon again…it was…I know it’s wrong.”

“You didn’t mean to.”

“I know but it’s still wrong.”

Alex lays down next to her, humming. “Alright, I might have an idea, make you better at differentiating animal versus Daemon.”

\---

The next day, Alex takes Kara to the crowded city center. Kara grips onto Alex’s hand, implicitly trusting her but also not used to the hustle and bustle of the large city. It’s not even Metropolis, just a smaller city next to them. Kara swallows. How could she ever visit Metropolis if even this makes her anxious?

“I got you,” Alex says, rubbing her thumb along the back of her hand. They sit at the park bench, Alex balancing a box on her knees. “Now…let’s play a game.”

Kara’s eyes widen. “What?”

“Sorry, not like that.” Alex sheepishly rubs the back of her neck. “Okay, we’re going to play, Daemon or not. I’ll point out an animal and you tell me if it’s a Daemon.”

Kara huffs. “That’s not very fun.”

“How about an incentive?” Alex opens up the box, brandishing Kara’s favorite snacks all conveniently packed inside. “For every right answer you get two candies but for every wrong one you get one.”

Kara bites her lip. There’s no way to lose on this. She nods enthusiastically.

“Alright!” Alex points to a flock of pigeons, leaning in so close Kara can feel the heat from her body. “That one by the fountain, Daemon or not?”

She observes the pigeon, watching for any signs of abnormal intelligence. It pecks at the bread scattered to the floor. Kara sneaks a glance at Valerian who’s shaking her head.

“Not?”

“Hey no cheating!” Alex grumbles but gives Kara two chocolates. “See, fun right?”

Kara hums, eagerly swallowing them. It doesn’t take long for Kara to get better at identifying them, even without Valerian’s help. They only stop when Alex’s box runs out.

Of course she still does not have the innate sense that humans do, but if Kara concentrates hard enough and takes in the cues, she can correctly identify a Daemon.

“Thank you,” Kara says, tentatively sliding her hand into Alex’s.

“Yea yea,” Alex grumbles, but doesn’t move to take her hand away.

Kara stops herself from floating from sheer happiness. Her stomach is full, she has Alex by her side and Valerian in her sleeve. She sneaks a glance at Alex’s face, highlighted by the sun.

Maybe life on Earth won’t be so bad after all.


	8. Science fair

 

“Hey is this seat taken?”

Kara stops mid-chew, seeing one of Alex’s friends, Jackson, standing by the table with a hopeful smile towards Alex.

“Depends.” Leaning back in her chair, Alex raises her eyebrows.

“On?”

“Whether or not you’re going to eat that chocolate pudding.”

“Not if I can get a seat to this exclusive table,” he says, putting the pudding on the table.

Confused, Kara tilts her head to the side. Alex never eats sugar in the middle of the day unless something’s bothering her but then Alex immediately slides the pudding over to Kara and nudges her shoulder.

“Hey Kara,” Jackson says with a soft smile.

Kara waves and continues to eat her lunch.

“You’re on the list for the science fair right?” Jackson asks, munching on his sandwich.

“Yes…” Alex warily says. “Did I _steal_ your spot?”

“No. What? Did someone actually say that to you? No way. Your project was way better than everyone else’s.”

Valerian curiously pops her head out from Alex’s lap, staring at Jackson’s ferret Daemon, Acario who’s wrapped around Jackson’s neck.

Alex shrugs at the praise. “Duh.”

“Yea, I got in with my APES group, we’re doing portable compact solar cells.”

“That’s cool.”

“Ehhh…I don’t think we’re gonna win anything but maybe we might get noticed by some college scouts y’know?”

Kara’s chewing slows down as she observes Alex laugh and talk science with Jackson. Valerian scuttles up to the table while Acario stands on her hind legs, regarding Valerian. Daemon and human behavior unsettles Kara, especially with Valerian being so opening to someone. She’s only seen that with Vicki before their falling out and now with Jackson. The way Alex relaxes into the conversation and Jackson’s good natured ribbing makes Kara’s stomach churn.

She isn’t hungry anymore.

“Alright, so … I guess I’ll see you this weekend?” Jackson asks, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

“Yep, with a shiny new trophy to add to my collection.”

“I’m sure you will.”

Jackson waves goodbye to them both and almost skips away from them. Kara’s super hearing catches a few girls at the other side of the quad saying Alex and Jackson. She really needs to stop eavesdropping.

_“Man…I guess Alex is going to have a taste of that sweet caramel skin.”_

Kara immediately tunes out of it and gapes in horror at Alex.

“What?” Alex asks. “What’s wrong?”

“Do humans participate in consumption of their own kind?” Kara asks, her voice low and harried.

“What?”

“Consumption of—“

“Cannibalism? I mean…some people do? But usually no? What…” Alex blinks hard, collecting her thoughts. “What brought this line of questioning? Do _Kryptonians_ eat people?”

“No!” Kara huffs indignantly. She discreetly points to the group of white girls giggling at stealing glances at Jackson. “They said you’ll taste his sweet caramel skin?” Kara tilts her head to the side. “Humans don’t have caramel skin do they?”

Alex growls lowly and shakes her head. “Don’t listen to them, and don’t ever, like _ever_ compare someone who has dark skin to food okay? Like… _ever_.”

“Okay…”

Alex covers her face. “I am so not ready to do the racism talk. Just…everything those assholes say? Don’t repeat it.”

Nodding, Kara concedes to Alex’s wisdom.

\---

Science fairs are so boring.

But watching Alex all excited and dragging her to different booths and experiments certainly make up for the lackluster Earth science. It’s too different here, sure Kara had been granted early entry to the Science Guild on Krypton, but Kryptonian science and Earth sciences are just too different. She’d had to learn the basic principles about this planet. Nothing makes any sense to her.

How could they not alter substances to others? (She remembers Alex marveling that Krypton had magic. No it’s science.)  And what’s with the apple falling on someone’s head? Earth science is weird. Don’t get her started on the subpar biology lessons. Kara cringes, she is not looking forward to the mandated Sex Education. Or the supplemental one that Alex warns her Eliza might give her.

“Hey!” Jackson waves from his group and gestures over to them.

Alex waves back enthusiastically and pulls Kara to his booth.

“Oh my god is that a sea lion?” Alex touches the mechanical toy.

“Yea, the aw’s get the A’s!” Jackson chuckles.

“How does it work?”

Jackson pulls apart the innards of the toy. “See the eyes have solar cells, it’s powered entirely by the sun and there’s battery pack here…”

He demonstrates all the mechanical knowledge he has to Alex who’s nodding her head in wonder. Kara grips Kartal under her sweater. It’s so similar to hers, except that his seems to have a much more efficient source of power. Kara still has to remember to plug in Kartal every other day if she turns it on for too long.

Before long, it’s Alex’s turn up on stage to pitch her project. Kara cheers loudly for her, it’s only rivaled by the Danvers family and a hooting Jackson behind her. It’s a shame Alex only gets third place, Kara thinks she should have won first and the disappointed expression Eliza sports is all too telling. Kara has to run interference between them.

“Congratulations!” Jeremiah says, swooping Alex into a hug. “Third place out of hundreds? That’s amazing sweetie.”

Eliza smiles awkwardly. “Yea, third isn’t too bad. If you’d gone with the regenerative tissue analysis I’m sure you’d have gotten first place honey.”

Alex scoffs and crosses her arms over her chest. “It wouldn’t be _my idea_ then.”

“Yes,” Kara interrupts with a nod of her head. “Alex was the only independent contestant, everyone else was in a group, you don’t even have to share your scholarship money!” Kara rubs at her stomach. “Ice cream?”

Alex thankfully swings an arm around Kara’s shoulder, leading them away from Eliza’s critiques. “Thanks,” Alex mumbles into Kara’s hair after pressing a kiss against it.

Kara grins, her cheeks warming up. Alex slows down a bit and Kara cranes her neck to see what’s captured Alex’s gaze. She tries not to pout.

Jackson. He’s cleaning up his booth, shaking hands with a few college scouts and beaming.

“One sec,” Alex says, putting her trophy in Kara’s hand.

Kara doesn’t even have time to eavesdrop; Jeremiah and Eliza are standing next to her already.

“Who’s that?” Jeremiah subtly leans down, asking Kara.

“Jackson,” Kara says. “Alex’s science friend.”

“Huh.” Jeremiah rubs at his chin, watching his daughter talk with a cute boy.

“He looks sweet,” Eliza says in an approving tone.

“Yea but he didn’t win anything did he?” Jeremiah says with a chuckle. “Alex can do better.”

Kara can’t help but nod and agree. Alex comes back with a bounce in her step and instantly slides her hand into Kara’s, pulling her along.

“Who was that?” Jeremiah asks, trying very hard to be subtle. He fails miserably.

“He’s just a friend dad.”

“Uh huh.”

Alex ignores his attempts to get more information out of her, instead using Kara as a physical shield between her and her parents. In the car, Alex takes something out of her pocket and wiggles her eyebrows at Kara.

“Look what I got.”

Kara tilts her head. She does not recognize those black beads. “I don’t know?”

“It’s the solar cells,” Alex says in an excited whisper. “Jackson didn’t need them anymore, so…” she shrugs.

“Why do you need them?” Kara sinks into her seat, not sure why her stomach is churning uncomfortably. Maybe some ice cream would help. Ice cream always fixes everything.

“It’s for Kartal.”

“Oh…” The uncomfortable feeling morphs into tingles, spreading all the way to her fingertips. Even with all the science, Alex always thinks of her first. Kara tucks a piece of stray hair behind her ear and beams.

“Wanna do some science with me?” Alex waggles her eyebrows.

Kara giggles, shoving at Alex’s shoulder. “I’m not good at it.”

“I’ll teach you.”

Kara leans against Alex’s shoulder, sighing softly when Alex winds her arm around her. No matter what, Alex will always be there to help her when she needs it.


	9. study buddy

 

Kara nibbles at the end of her pencil, reworking the math formula in her head to Kryptonian methods before converting it back to Earth principles. She scribbles the answer on the page but Alex hums next to her.

“You have to show the work.”

“I don’t need to.”

“Well to get full credit you have to show the steps.”

Kara groans, pushing the book away from her. “Why do I need to if I can do it in my head?”

“So they know if you did it or just looked up the answer. Plus boring tedious work.”

Kara lets out a frustrated sigh and erases the answer, writing down the long way of doing math instead of the much easier and frankly intuitive methods. Alex fidgets, checking her watch every minute or so and rearranges the stack of snacks in the middle of the table. Kara pouts, dropping her head on her textbook. Valerian scampers next to her and nudges the textbook.

“Hey, you’ll get it,” Alex says, rubbing Kara’s shoulder.

That’s not it at all, but Kara takes the comfort Alex gives her. It’s way too short for her tastes when the doorbell rings.

“Be right back.”

Kara stares forlornly as Alex disappears to the front door with Valerian. Looks like Alex is really eager, if Valerian didn’t even stay here. She adjusts her glasses, half-tempted to push them down and try to use her x-ray vision to see what Alex is doing. Kara drops her gaze, guilty. She promised not to use her powers. Either way, she doesn’t have the x-ray vision under control yet and she’d rather not scream if she sees inside people again. That won’t do well especially now that they have company.

“Hey Kara,” Jackson greets as he comes in behind Alex.

Kara waves awkwardly, adjusting her glasses again and grimaces more than smiles. Alex gives her a concerned look and Kara’s grimace turns into a small reassuring smile.

“Ready for some science?” Jackson says, wiggling his eyebrows. He puts down his textbooks on the table and sits next to Alex.

“Duh,” Alex says and gestures over to the mountain of snacks on the table. “Help yourself to whatever.”

Kara keeps the sigh inside, watching Alex relax around Jackson. Valerian and Jackson’s Daemon, Acario, are laying down at the end of the table. She makes sure Kartal is turned on and hiding inside her sleeve. Good thing Acario seems more preoccupied with Valerian than with anything else.

She shuts her book, ready to leave Jackson and Alex alone.

“You don’t have to go,” Jackson says.

“What?” Kara blinks.

Jackson gives her a genuine smile, making Kara feel at ease. “Why don’t you study with us?”

Kara blinks, looking towards Alex for instruction. None of Alex’s friends would tell her to stay, in fact they were delighted that Kara would voluntarily leave them alone. Alex, with her mouth opened in surprise, just shrugs.

“Yea, stay, if you want,” Alex says.

“Okay…” Kara tentatively sits back down, as if the invitation would be snatched up like a cruel joke.

Jackson grins boyishly and snaps his fingers. “Right! I forgot.” He rummages through his backpack and takes out tupperware. “Mom always said to bring an offering to someone’s home.”

“We’re not demons,” Alex says with a roll of her eyes. She takes the tupperware and opens it, showing it to Kara.

“Oh…may I?” Kara asks, licking her lips at the chocolate cupcakes.

“They’re for you anyways,” Jackson teases, leaning back and sniggering at Alex’s affronted look.

“Hey, I live here too!”

“Yea but we’re lab buddies, I’m a guest for Kara, not you.”

“Whatever,” Alex grumbles, biting into a cupcake. Her moodiness immediately lifts and she groans. “Oh my God.”

Kara takes one and eats the cupcake in a scant two bites, the chocolate flavor coating her tongue. She’d groan too but that would mean less cupcake time. Kara takes another cupcake. “Thank you,” she says to Jackson.

“You’re welcome, glad you’re enjoying them.”

“Give my regards to your mom,” Alex says, taking another bite.

“Hey, I baked them.”

“You can bake??”

Kara’s simmering distrust of Jackson starts melting away as she eats the cupcakes. Apparently she is very pliable with food, but anyone that can make Alex act like a happy teenager instead of a moody one gets a plus mark in Kara’s book.

They lapse into a comfortable vibe, Kara doing her work quietly, occasionally asking Alex for some clarification while Jackson and Alex work on their lab report. It’s rare for Alex to find a partner on equal footing. Usually Alex complained about her lab partner wanting her to do all the work or how they don’t understand anything. Vicki used to be Alex’s partner for all group projects but well, after the falling out, Alex has gone through a motley of partners, grumbling about their stupidity every time she’s home.

Kara shifts in her seat. Alex seems happy again. Content at least.

“Ugh,” Alex groans, slamming the textbook shut. “I am so over this.”

“Yea,” Jacksons says, rubbing at his eyes.

Kara looks at the clock on the wall, seeing that it’s nearly dinner time, Eliza and Jeremiah should be back soon. They’ve been doing homework for a few hours.

Alex stretches, groaning as her bones pop.

Kara swallows thickly, looking away from her, feeling heat behind her eyes. It’s been happening more and more. Kara fears her heat vision will come in soon and she’s not sure how to control it.

“I’ve totally earned this,” Alex says, reaching for a cupcake and eating the whole thing in a few bites.

Jackson chuckles, pointing at her cheek. “You got some…”

Alex flushes, hand going up to wipe at the frosting but Kara gets there first. She swipes it off with her thumb and puts it in her mouth, tasting the chocolate frosting. Alex turns to her, looking a little lost as she stares at Kara’s mouth.

“You were gonna waste chocolate,” Kara says around her thumb.

“Right uh…” Alex coughs.”Thanks.”

Kara tilts her head, the sound of a car and tires crunching gravel traveling to her ear without her meaning to use her super hearing. “Eliza and Jeremiah are back.”

“How do you…” Jackson starts.

“Routine,” Alex quickly interrupts. “They’re always back at this time.”

“Oh okay.”

On cue, the garage door opens up and Alex jumps up, clearing the table of all the junk food.

“Distract mom,” Alex says, dumping the bags of chips into the cupboard and trying to hide the evidence of her terrible eating habits.

Kara grimaces, running at a leisure pace to the garage. She doesn’t want Eliza reprimanding Alex for feeding her unhealthy foods again, even though her Kryptonian physiology doesn’t work like a humans and junk food is in fact not junk to her.

“Eliza!” Kara greets.

“Hello Kara,” Eliza says tiredly, holding a bag of take out. “Where’s your sister?”

“Homework?”

“There’s another car out front,” Jeremiah says.

“Oh that’s Jackson.”

Eliza narrows her eyes. “Well, I hope she’s kept her door open.”

Kara tilts her head. “We were doing homework in the dining room.”

“Oh?” Eliza’s face softens. “All three of you?”

“Yes.”

Jeremiah hums at this new information and walks straight in, greeting Jackson. Demetria waddles to Acario, both sizing each other up before Demetria nods resolutely and returns to Jeremia’s side. Kara see’s Alex hovering anxiously around Jackson as Jeremiah nearly interrogates him, but Jackson seems to take it in stride, making Jeremiah relax marginally.

“Why don’t you stay for dinner?” Eliza asks, poking her head out.

“Oh I…” Jackson looks to Alex for direction but she just shrugs. He rubs the back of his head. “Sure?  Thank you Mrs. Danvers.”

For once, the attention is all to Alex and Jackson, asking them about their classes, extracurricular activities. Kara twirls her spaghetti, watching Alex flush with every question. By the end of dinner, Eliza and Jeremiah seem to have accepted Jackson as a new friend.

“I’ll see you on Monday,” Jackson says, giving Alex a hug at the door.

“Yep,” Alex says, playing with her hair and watching as Jackson drives off. She releases a breath of air and grins as Kara saunters up next to her.

“Smart boy,” Jeremiah says, wiping his wet hands on his jeans, just coming out of the kitchen after washing the dishes.

“Dad,” Alex says in an embarrassed whine. “We’re just friends.”

“Okay okay.” Jeremiah holds his hands up in the air. “Just saying, he’s smart.”

Kara has the sudden urge to tell them she’d been chosen early to enter the science guild, the youngest ever on Krypton. She bites her tongue.

“He does seem like a nice boy,” Eliza says, leaning against the door way.

“Mom,” Alex groans, rolling her eyes.

Eliza’s stance changes, crossing her arms over her chest. “But next time, let us know before you invite any of your friends over.”

“Mom, we’re _just friends_ ,” Alex insists. “We were doing homework, Kara was literally right there.”

“Exactly,” Eliza says. She shakes her head. “You should know better Alexandra.”

Alex bristles at the tone, her body going on the defensive. “What?”

“We hardly know this boy, he could have…seen something. Or something could have happened, you can’t just invite anyone—“

“Seriously?” Alex hisses. “Kara has complete control over her powers!”

“That’s not the point.”

“Then what is the point? What I can’t have my friends over because _something_ could happen? I’ve had friends over before—“

“While we were supervising,” Eliza stresses.

“—and now this time just cause I had a boy over you’re getting like this? Wow. Seriously?” Alex shakes her head.

Kara shakes, watching Eliza and Alex go back and forth arguing so much that even Valerian starts hissing at Aurelio. Kara bends down, trying to soothe Valerian but Valerian backs away, refusing Kara’s touch and slinks back over to Alex.

“Okay, why don’t we just calm down,” Jeremiah says, putting his hands up between them. “Next time just gives us a heads up if you have friends over, we’re not saying you can’t, but it’s just an extra precaution.”

Alex seethes. She sucks in a breath and jerkily shakes her head. “Whatever.” She stomps off into the backyard, ignoring Eliza’s protests while Jeremiah tries to calm her down.

Kara follows Alex out at Jeremiah’s nod. She watches helplessly as Alex angrily paces back and forth on the porch, Valerian sitting down with an angry expression on her face, mirroring Alex’s.

“I can’t believe her,” Alex mumbles, kicking at the wooden beams. “What kind of sexist bullshit is this? It’s like she doesn’t even trust me! It’s not like he’s my boyfriend or anything. What, does she think I’m a slut that I’ll have sex with him while you’re here?”

Kara swallows thickly, banishing the images from her head and the sudden sinking feeling in her stomach hearing Alex talk about having sex with anyone.

“And she’s so using you as an excuse!” Alex waves in Kara’s direction. “You haven’t had any accidents in like months! I can’t believe that she would use you against me. Actually I can, God, she pisses me off so much.”

Kara sits down next to Valerian while Alex continues to pace back and forth, grumbling under her breath. She reaches out, hoping Valerian won’t rebuff her again and gently caresses her head. Valerian takes a while to nuzzle into her hand but it instantly calms Alex down too.

“I’m sorry,” Alex mumbles, flopping down next to Kara. “I just had to vent. It’s not your fault.”

Kara nods mechanically. She bites her lip and keeps stroking Valerian, seeing Alex still huffy but her mood starting to taper off. Kara looks to the night sky, completely dark, save for the few stars she can see even with her enhanced vision. It’s perfect.

And Alex always loved to fly with her.

She stands up, reaching a hand towards Alex. “Let’s go.”

“Uhhh…where?” Alex asks, taking a hold of Kara’s outstretched hand and pulling herself up.

Kara leads them to the middle of the backyard and starts floating up.

“Shit!” Alex yanks Kara back down. “We can’t.” She looks around, as if sensing Eliza’s prying eyes on them. “Kara come on, we’ll get in trouble.”

“Please Alex.” Kara x-ray visions the house, seeing Jeremiah and Eliza prepare for bed. “They’re going to sleep.”

Alex chews her lip, looking tempted.

“Come on Alex,” Kara says, floating up without Alex. “It’ll be so much fun.” She reaches a hand out. “Do you trust me?”

Alex shakes her head with a fond smile while Valerian scrambles up to Alex’s shoulder and uses her as a launch pad to jump into Kara’s hand.

“See!” Kara says with a laugh, tucking Valerian into her shirt to keep her safe. “Even Valerian knows you want to.”

Alex takes one last look at the house and grasps onto Kara.

Kara soars through the sky, listening to the quick beat of Alex’s heart and skims the ocean, getting some water over Valerian’s head. Kara hovers in the sky, holding Alex tightly in the air while Valerian pokes her head out to observe the still air around them. There’s nothing around them for miles and Alex just closes her eyes, taking it in. Kara can’t keep herself from staring at how the moonlight highlights all the contour of Alex’s face. She ducks her head and corkscrew in the air, making Alex squeal and clutch her tighter.

It’s the freest night they’ve ever had.

And the only one they’ll ever have.

“You two are in so much trouble,” Jeremiah says as they try to sneak back in.

Kara doesn’t take Alex flying anymore.


End file.
